‘Today’s Craig Melvin Opens Up About Raising Biracial Kids With Wife Lindsay Czarniak

Before Black History Month came to a close, Today host Craig Melvin opened up about how he and his wife, Lindsay Czarniak, navigate raising their biracial children.

In an article for Today.com published on Friday, February 27, Melvin shared that he and Czarniak never discussed eventually having biracial kids while talking about marriage. “Looking back on it, maybe we should have. But it was not something that was front of mind when we were dating,” he said.

Melvin added, “Even after we got married, we never discussed what it would be like to raise biracial children. I don’t think we talked about it because we didn’t have any experience in that space. She doesn’t come from a family that is diverse and neither do I.”

The couple wed in 2011 and welcomed their son, Delano, and daughter, Sybil, in 2014 and 2016, respectively. Since becoming parents, Melvin said he and Czarniak have had to figure things out on the fly.

“I remember reading something years ago about the idea that biracial children, at some point in their lives, begin to identify with a race,” he recalled. “I was a bit incredulous about whether it was true, but since then I’ve also heard it from other parents of mixed-race children. For some, it happens when they are young and for others it may not be until they are older or they become parents.”

 

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Melvin noted that Delano “has started to identify as Black, as African American,” while Sybil is showing her own “signs of self-identity.” He explained, “A couple of months ago, she drew a picture of herself on a horse. And it’s the first time she went out of her way to make her face a darker complexion than it is,” he said. “I deliberately didn’t ask her about it, even though I wanted to, because I don’t want to have any sort of influence on how she views herself in this world and how she identifies. … When she gave it to me, I said, ‘Sibby — who is this? Who is the girl on the horse?’ She looked at me and said, ‘Daddy, that’s me.’ I quickly responded, ‘Of course. Of course that’s you.'”

Melvin said he and Czarniak make sure to expose their children to both of their backgrounds. “For example, during the holidays we go out of our way to incorporate as many Polish and African-American traditions as possible,” he shared. “Every January, we make the kids watch — from beginning to end — the entire ‘I Have A Dream’ speech and it always sparks conversation and questions.”

As his kids have grown, Melvin said it’s been “easier to have some of the more difficult conversations about race in America” with them. He also credited notable figures such as Clarence Jones, Shonda Rhimes, and Patrick Mahomes as positive role models for his children.

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“I have not yet had ‘the talk’ with Del about what it means to be a Black man in America and how it impacts the way you respond to certain situations. He’s only in fourth grade,” Melvin shared. “I have a group of about 10 to 12 Black dads in my town who I have lunch with once a month. It’s a small group, because we live in a very white town. We are of varying ages, and are fathers of sons and daughters of varying ages. This topic came up at one of our lunches. At what point do you have that conversation? I mean, obviously you have to have it before they get to high school. But what I don’t want to do too early is warp his innocence.”

For now, Melvin is letting his kids be kids. “My 9-year-old son still wears onesie pajamas, like with the footies. He still sleeps with all of his stuffies,” he stated. “But he also needs to wear deodorant now. So he’s at that tipping point. I know it’s a conversation in our very near future.”

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